I learned something interesting about Buddhism in Thailand

Wat Arun, Bangkok Thailand (c) Rachel Barnum

Among many other things, one of my considerations of a major in college was in religious studies. I wanted to continue on in my life and become a professor, and I was especially interested in Asian religions. I really only took a couple of religion courses before I switched, but Buddhism always stood out to me. In Thailand, they generally practice Theravada Buddhism that has some slight variations on other modern practices of Buddhism around the world, but that is not entirely important.

While I was in Thailand, I noticed that there was virtually no help at all for the handicapped. I only saw two people in wheelchairs while I was there. One was an elderly man whose family was wheeling him around a park, stopping on some grass, and helping him get up and walk slowly while latching onto their arms. The second was a younger girl in the Bangkok Cultural Arts Center who I watched swing her wheel chair around and back up to the escalator, roll on, then hold on tight until she got to the bottom. She seemed well practiced at this so I assume she came to the art center often.

Otherwise, I simply do not see how a handicapped person would be able to get around Bangkok without a decent amount of cash and their own handicapped enabled vehicle. The sidewalks were awful, forget about getting up anywhere that has stairs due to no ramps, and the buses did not have wheelchair spots. There was even a study done relatively recently on the lack of help for the disabled in Thailand. The research shows that even though disabled Thais are helped monetarily and with supplies, they are rather trapped in their homes due to the inability to traverse throughout Thailand.

Interestingly, the blind seemed to be the only ones that were given any help. They were given lottery tickets to sell or, more bizarrely, would walk around with obvious caregivers carrying a small amplifier/speaker and a microphone and singing... very poorly.

A blind man selling lottery tickets near MBK

Being curious, I asked my professor about the reasoning behind the lack of help for the handicapped. Interestingly, from his observations, Thais felt as though if you were handicapped, you deserved that position in life. They were not going to be mean to you in any way, and may help you here and there, but there would be no laws implemented to help the handicapped get around.

Why? Because Buddhists believe that depending on how you live your current life, your next life will reflect off of that. People in wheelchairs did not live "good" lives previously, so they deserve their station in life.

Buddhists also believe in compassion and being nice, etc, but how far does that really extend? Again, Thais are extremely nice and are very friendly towards the handicapped, but yet, the help just isn't there. This is probably the first negative aspect I have ever found of Buddhism, but I wouldn't say that I always found it to be "perfect," I just hadn't found the flaw yet. But, there it is.

Obviously this doesn't go across all Buddhist cultures, and there are activists in Thailand trying for better help for the disabled. In addition, the government gives a 500 Baht monthly stipend to many qualifying handicapped as well. While that only amounts to about $15 USD a month, it can go a long ways for food and other needs there. Yet, how do these people find jobs? How bored do you have to get after spending your days at home? Life isn't fantastic for the handicapped in Thailand.

Edit** I asked some friends about this and they said that while the thoughts are there, they are considered quite backwards. Perhaps it's an effect similar to black Americans, although they were given rights a decent amount of time ago, it takes time for the repercussions to subside.